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(No Model.)

G. D. BURTON & G. -W. LORD.

-RQL LER SKATE.

N. PETERS. Plmo-L'llhngnpbor. waning, ac.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. BURTON, OF NEW IPSWICH, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND GEORGE W. LORD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROLLER-SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,501., dated May 12, 18

Applicat-ion filed May 24, 1884.

ToaZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE D. BURTON, and GEORGE WASHINGTON Loan, citizens of the United States, said Lord residing at Boston, in the county of Sufiolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts,and Burton at New Ipswich,county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented new and useful Improvements in Roller-Skates; and we hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of our improvements, which will enable others to make and use the same.

In learning to skate on rollers it is necessary, to prevent falling, that the skates should be firm and steady, not rocking or rolling, until the learner has acquired confidence in himself, and can go on without fear and without assistance. Prior to our invention india-rubber has been almost universally used as a spring in roller-skates, but it has been found to be very objectionable, both on account of its making the skates unsteady for beginners, and because it almostimmediately ceases to be elastic, and has to be renewed, and if oil is used on the axles, as is the case in most rollerskates, the oil coming in contact with the rubber spoils its elasticity and requires its renewal. This makes rubber expensive. To obviate these objections, we have substituted for rubber steel springs, using one, two, or more layers of thin steel fastened to the truckstand by two small screws passing through the layers of steel and into the truck-stand.

In the drawings accompanying this application, Figure 1 is a side elevation of our skate; Fig. 2 a sectional elevation in line 00 of Fig. 1 Fig. 3 bottom plan of heel Fig. 4 side elevation of roller, showing bearings with washers removed; Figs. 5 and 6 are plan and side elevation of said springs, and Fig. 7 a sectional detail, showing adjusting-screw and countersink.

A is the truck-stand, a truck-stand post, B foot-plate. G is the rocker-bar, 0 ing on rocker-bar. 0 is the rod or screw passing through the rocker-bar. e are shoulders on the rocker-bar; D, springs; E, wheel-arbors and extension of rocker-bar E journals of arbors F, V-pointed screw; G, rollers g, ball-bearin gs in rollers; h, caps or washers. The truckstand A is screwed or riveted to the foot-plate (No model.)

B, one stand at the heel and one at the ball of the foot. Attached to the post a of the truck-stand, and between that end and the ear or lip at the other end of the truck, we inserta rocker-bar, 0, moving on a rod or screw. This rod 0 is threaded at thepart which passes through the ear or lip, and is slotted at its head, so that it becomes,in fact, a long screw. This rocker-bar has shoulders e at the post end of the truck-stand, upon which the springs D on each side, fastened to the truckstand A, rest, said springs servingto keep the arbors and rollers square with the foot-plate when the foot leaves the floor and giving the desired rocking motion. These rocker-bars G, or their extensions, are integral with the arbors for the rollers. This rocker-bar O has a lug G, reaching up to, and justclearing, the foot-plate B. Through the stand-post a is a V-pointed setscrew, F, passing into a countersink in the lug G of the rocker-bar. This set-screw may be tightened, thereby preventing any rocking,and so adapted for beginners or it may be gradually loosened so as to allow as much rocking motion as is desired. This rocking motion is not the uncertain and unstable result produced by rubber, but is positive, limited, and directed by said set-screw F. By means of this screw the rocker-bar can be graduated in its movements from no motion to its full swing.

By our improvements the practiced skater can regulate his movements and produce such curves on the floor as can be produced on ice, and the rocking motion can be regulated by the set-screw so as to conform to the progress of the beginner.

Vi e intend to use for foot-plates wood, malleable iron, or sheet-steel.

The skate may be attached to the foot by the ordinary clamp or by straps.

To enable the rollers to rotate more freely, and with less wear than those of usual construction, allowing easier running and making the skate more durable, we insert in a sleeve or bushing in said rollers anti-friction balls, forming bearings for the roller-axles. These antifriction bearings require no fluid lubricating material, and so the skates are much cleaner and the clothing of the skater does not get soiled. These anti-friction balls are inserted in a sleeve or bushing (as shown in Figs. 2 and 4) in said rollers and caps or washers h at either end prevent the balls from slipping. The anti-friction balls being placed at each end of the sleeve or bushing, the journals of the axles rest upon them, and there is no friction on the intermediate space.

To obviate dryness in the bushing, we propose to use pulverized plumbago.

We are aware that flat metallic springs, secured to the body of the skate and pressing upon the roller-truck on each side of its pivot, have heretofore been used; also that hollow bushings, interiorly grooved and having balls in said grooves, have been used to form bear ings for journals, and we do not claim such constructions broadly.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure, is-- 1. In a roller-skate, the combination, with the foot-plate, of truck-stands rigidly secured thereto, rocker-bars pivoted to said truckstands and having axles for the rollers, and also lugs provided with countersinks, springs normally holding said axles parallel with the bottom of the foot-plate, and pointed adjusting screws tapped in said truck-stands with their points entering said countersink's, where-. by the rocking movements of the foot-plate on the trucks may be varied or entirely arrested, as may be desired, substantially as set forth.

2. In aroller-skate, the combination, with the foot-plate, of truck-stands rigidly secured thereto, rockerbars pivoted to said truckstands and having smooth cylindrical axles for the rollers, springs normally holding said axles parallel with the bottom of the foot-plate, rollers provided with bushings each formed in one piece and having interior grooves or recesses, and balls adapted to fit in said grooves or recesses, and to rest on the convex surfaces of said axles, substantially as set forth.

Boston, April 22, 1884. GEO. D. BURTON. G. WV. LORD. Witnesses GEORGE E. BETTON, JOHN H. GRIFFIN. 

